View source for Book Cliffs

{{short description|Geographic feature in Colorado and Utah, US}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{more citations needed|date=December 2010}}
[[File:Book Cliffs above Helper, Utah.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|The Spring Canyon sandstones in the Book Cliffs above [[Helper, Utah]], with several sedimentary cycles visible in the cliffs]]
[[Image:Near Grand junction, CO.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Book Cliffs and [[Mount Garfield (Mesa County, Colorado)|Mt. Garfield]] (on right, approximate altitude {{cvt|6600|ft|disp=or}}) in [[Mesa County, Colorado]]]]
[[File:The Book Cliffs near Green River, Utah - DPLA - 6dacd5b503270ef6cd770db46ff15eb9.jpg|right|thumb|The Book Cliffs near Green River, Utah, ca. 1879–1894. Photographs of the American West, Boston Public Library]]
[[File:Bookcliffs.helperUT.jpg|thumb|The Book Cliff in Helper, Utah]]

The '''Book Cliffs''' are a series of desert mountains and [[cliff]]s in western [[Colorado]] and eastern [[Utah]] in the [[Western United States]].<ref name="gnis">{{gnis|1425876|Book Cliffs}}</ref> They are so named because the cliffs of [[Cretaceous]] [[sandstone]] capping many of the south-facing [[butte]]s appear similar to a shelf of books.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=sa9SAAAAIBAJ&sjid=c38DAAAAIBAJ&pg=6741%2C5066695|title=You name it - there's a town for it|last=Van Atta|first=Dale|newspaper=[[Deseret News|The Deseret News]]|page=15|date=Jan 22, 1977|access-date=18 October 2015|via=[[Google News]]}}</ref><ref name="gnis"/>

==Stratigraphy==
[[Image:FluteCast.JPG|thumb|upright=1.2|A [[flute cast]], one of many [[sedimentary structures]] found in the Book Cliffs]]
The Book Cliffs are one of the world's best places to study [[sequence stratigraphy]]. In the 1980s, [[Exxon]] scientists used the [[Cretaceous]] strata of the Book Cliffs to develop the science of [[sequence stratigraphy]]. The Book Cliffs have preserved excellent strata of the foreland basin of the ancient [[Western Interior Seaway]] that stretched north from the [[Gulf of Mexico]] to the [[Yukon]] in the Cretaceous Period. Components of deltaic and shallow marine reservoirs are very well preserved in the Book Cliffs.

==Wildlife==
There are many small streams that contain a variety of trout species.

Large mammals found in the Book Cliffs include [[coyotes]], [[mountain lion]]s, [[bobcat]]s, [[mule deer]], elk, black bears, [[pronghorn]], [[American bison]] as an extension of the [[Henry Mountains bison herd]] and [[bighorn sheep]]. In January 2009, [[Utah Division of Wildlife Resources]] officials transplanted 31 bison from the [[Henry Mountains]] bison herd to the Book Cliffs.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://wildlife.utah.gov/news/09-01/bison.php |title=DWR captures bison near Lake Powell |publisher=Utah Division of Wildlife Resources |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091210162314/http://wildlife.utah.gov/news/09-01/bison.php |archive-date=2009-12-10 }}</ref> The new group joined 14 animals previously released in August 2008 from a private herd on the nearby [[Uintah and Ouray Indian Reservation]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://wildlife.utah.gov/news/08-09/book_bison.php|title=Bison Return to the Book Cliffs|publisher=Utah Division of Wildlife Resources|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091025143519/http://wildlife.utah.gov/news/08-09/book_bison.php|archive-date=2009-10-25}}</ref> This herd is approximately {{convert|100|mi|km}} north of the Henry Mountains across mostly harsh, desert terrain.

==See also==
{{stack|{{portal|Colorado|Utah|Mountains}}}}
* [[List of mountains in Colorado]]
* [[List of mountains in Utah]]
* [[Roan Cliffs]]

==References==
{{reflist|22em}}

== External links ==
{{commons category|Book Cliffs}}
*[https://www.blm.gov/visit/book-cliffs-recreation-area "Book Cliffs Recreation Area"] at [[United States Department of Interior|U.S. Department of Interior]]

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{{Mountains of Colorado|state=collapsed}}
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[[Category:Bureau of Land Management areas in Colorado]]
[[Category:Bureau of Land Management areas in Utah]]
[[Category:Cliffs of Utah]]
[[Category:Colorado Plateau]]
[[Category:Mountains of Carbon County, Utah]]
[[Category:Mountains of Emery County, Utah]]
[[Category:Mountains of Garfield County, Colorado]]
[[Category:Mountains of Grand County, Utah]]
[[Category:Mountains of Mesa County, Colorado]]
[[Category:Mountains of Utah]]
[[Category:Stratigraphy of Colorado]]
[[Category:Stratigraphy of Utah]]
[[Category:Cliffs of Colorado]]